The AuthaGraph projection has recently been hyped as the "perfect projection" for a world map, since it (approximately) conserves area, shape and distances. It also tessellates, so that any point can serve as an equal center point for the map.
Apart from being a fairly recent invention (so that it did not have enough time to be widely adapted), what are the main disadvantages of this projection for everyday use?
One suggestion would be that longitude and latitude are not straight lines or ellipses. This would make it difficult to find the North direction on an arbitrary point without detailed grid lines.
To address the suggested similarity to this question: the deformed North Pole is only one of the symptoms of the disadvantages my question is about. My question is broader: Does this projection conserve angles? Can it easily be used for navigation with map and compass? Does it map geodesics to simple curves? etc.
Summary so far
Advantages:
- preserves size
- preserves shape
- tessellates (center point can be arbitrarily chosen)
- allows rectangular maps with almost 16:9 ratio
- allows differently-shaped maps (triangular, parallelogram)
- recurring paths (e.g. satellite orbits) can be mapped to a straight line on the tiled map
Disadvantages:
- not strictly equal-area
- lines of constant bearing are not mapped to straight lines or ellipses
- unusual projection, unfamiliar (recent invention)
- does not conserve location accurately
Best Answer
I would start by saying not many however, one unfamiliarity would be a major drawback, for some viewing this uncommon projection may just want to stick to what they are used to.
The orientation of the landmasses is stretch East to West like a smiling face.
There are some sacrifices made in distance of location and shape as mentioned here
It can come in different orientation depending on your choice which can create a perception they may be different versions of projections.